


Game Day

by Jeepgrrl



Category: Vagrant Queen
Genre: Bromance, Elida and Isaac having fun, F/M, No Romance, feel good story
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-13
Updated: 2020-06-13
Packaged: 2021-03-04 03:54:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,992
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24707149
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jeepgrrl/pseuds/Jeepgrrl
Summary: Isaac trying to help Elida develop her 'game'.
Relationships: Elida al-Feyr - Relationship, Isaac Stelling - Relationship
Kudos: 10





	Game Day

**Author's Note:**

> This takes place shortly after Elida and Isaac have forged a friendship. Long before Amae steps on the scene.

“All right,” Isaac announced as he grabbed Elida by the shoulders and looked her square in the eye. They were on a mission and he needed her to focus. Really focus. Like, ‘take a deep breath and let it all go’ focus. There was only so much he could do. He knew that. She knew that. But they were both willing and ready to meet this challenge head on. A quick look around and the earthling was confident that no one was listening. 

“When those doors swing open, I want you to walk in there like you own the place. Got it?”

Elida swallowed hard as she nodded her head. Her stomach was flipping and rolling and wreaking all manner of havoc on her system. She had to do this though. She momentarily started to bring her finger to her mouth but the look on Isaac’s face told her to put the chewed off nub back down. Truth was she had a horrible habit of chewing her nails when she was nervous. And there was no denying she was shaking in her boots. 

“I mean it buddy. You need to get some swagger in your step.” Isaac whispered.

The rogue queen looked almost offended. Almost. She knew Isaac was right and his disarming smile caused her to squelch any sarcastic retort she may have had. She squared her shoulders and nodded.

“Right. Swagger.” Elida internally rolled her eyes as she listened to herself. _“How did I get myself into this mess?”_ It only took a second for the moment to rear its taunting face in her mind’s eye. _Whiskey. Poker. Bets._ She cringed at the discomfort that she felt the instant she made the deal with Isaac and the embarrassment she was feeling for actually keeping her word and going through with it right now.

Isaac grinned and stood up straight. Tugging his jacket as he came to his full height. “You got this, El.”

One last nod and they headed toward the doors of the Xija Station bar. Elida squared her shoulders as she swaggered toward the door. Isaac was impressed. He knew his friend wasn’t near as confident as she looked at the moment. Which didn’t last long. He watched, frozen in place, as the not so graceful former queen pushed hard on the door and ran straight into the glass. 

Elida wanted to run as two very attractive ladies pushed the door from the inside and came walking out. Giggling, of course. She quickly turned to Isaac and for a moment she wished that he would just pull his laser gun and put her out of her misery. However, Isaac, supportive wingman that he was, just rolled with it and yelled out.

“Yep. These doors are good. Let’s check the next ones.”

Elida couldn’t believe she was continuing her way through the bar. She felt like all eyes were on her. Not in that ‘oohh, look at that hottie that just walked in’ kinda way. Nope. That would never be the sort of entrance she would make. Not in this lifetime. This was more of a ‘girl got no game’ kind of look. She could feel it. Isaac knew the instant that his friend started spiraling down the self-loathing vortex. They walked to the bar and took a seat. 

Isaac leaned close to Elida and whispered. “Shake it off. Nobody is looking. Stay focused.”

Before Elida could say anything, the bartender walked up to the duo to get their drinks. “Whatcha having?”

She smacked her units on the bar and simply said, “Alcohol.”

The bartender chuckled as he continued wiping a glass.

“Yeah…well, we have a lot of that here. Anything in particular?”

Isaac could tell Elida was on the verge of going off. It didn’t take long for embarrassment to turn to anger so he spoke up. Honestly, the Arriopian was grateful for his presence.

“Whiskey.”

The bartender nodded and reached for two whiskey glasses. He eyed them carefully. Xija Station was big but the crowd didn’t change much. Mostly scavengers and outlaws seeking a place to lay low until the heat was off of them. This was the first time this unlikely pair had wandered in and curiosity was getting the better of him. He placed a glass in front of each of his new customers and poured their drinks.

“Where you from?” the bartender asked.

Small talk was something Elida had a real disdain for on any given day. And she certainly wasn’t in the mood for small talk at the moment. However, Isaac was as windy as an F4 Oklahoma twister. A rare beauty of nature that he had tried to explain to his comrade at one point. Elida just couldn’t picture it. But from Isaac’s actions alone she knew that whatever it was, it had to be relentless.

Isaac picked up his glass and took a drink, his eye never leaving the bartender. He was always leery of new people. He placed his empty glass back on the bar and motioned for another shot. “Some place you’ve never heard of.”

Elida picked up her drink and swallowed the warm liquid. She had heard this conversation a thousand times and knew how it would go. Isaac would eventually tell whoever he was talking to, that he was from Earth. She knew he was hoping that someone, at some point, would recognize the name and be able to help him return to his beloved planet. But, no one ever knew. After all, it was a different galaxy. 

She let her warm, brown eyes dance over the crowd. It wasn’t the cream of the crop by any means, but everyone here was surviving. Just like her. She felt equal to those around her. The thought that she was at one point chosen to rule over these people almost made her sick. She didn’t want that power or responsibility. It was all she could do to take care of herself most days. 

As her thoughts floated in the past, her eyes came to rest on a set of eyes looking back at her. Eyes that were smiling and batting and saying things that even someone as inexperienced as Elida is didn’t find hard to interpret. She felt her breath catch. I mean, they were attractive eyes. Golden. Almost yellow and cat-like. She tried to slyly bump Isaac to get his attention. But her elbow ended up sliding off the edge of the bar. She over tipped her glass and the last of her whiskey dumped down the front of her jacket. 

She kept her eyes on the floor as she swiveled back around to face the bar. It was becoming more and more clear to her that she did not have what it took to navigate this particular minefield. It all just felt like a big waste of time.

“We need to go.” She whispered to Isaac.

Isaac just stared at his friend as he motioned for another drink. “El, we just got here.”

Brown eyes glared back at the man. 

“I want to go, Isaac. Right now.”

Isaac tilted his head and was about to say something encouraging when he noticed the front of Elida’s shirt. It was wet. No doubt sticky. Unpleasant, he was certain. What could have possibly happened in the three minutes he spent conversing with the bartender?

“I couldn’t help but notice you spilled your drink. It’s only right if I buy you a new one.” 

All three heads snapped up to the newcomer who sidled up next to Elida. There was no doubt where the cat-like creature’s interest lay. She smiled a coy smile as she reached out and rested her hand on Elida’s arm. Isaac raised an eyebrow and looked encouraging at Elida. “Well…isn’t that nice, El,” he said.

The bartender and Isaac shared a smile. Elida smiled and nodded as she stood. 

“Yep. That’s very nice. But we have to be moving out in a couple of hours and need to do some repairs on our ship first. So…”

The creature stood as well. Her pupils were blown and Elida wasn’t sure if she should feel like a mouse being toyed with or a giant bowl of milk the cat-woman wanted to lap up. Either way, it was unsettling.

“Oh darlin’, it won’t take me long to…have you,” the creature purred.

The woman let out a small growl and leaned in to lick some of the whiskey off of Elida’s jacket. The move made Isaac choke on his last sip of whiskey. Elida was out of her league here. This was just too much. Almost too much for him. He stepped in for the save.

“She’s right.” Isaac spoke as he stood. “We gotta head out and do some repairs before taking off.”

The creature looked disappointed but didn’t press the issue. There were more fish in the sea and the night was young. But it had been fun to toy with someone so wide-eyed and innocent as the dark-skinned beauty in front of her. With a huff and a swish of her long tail she turned on her heel and headed back into the crowd.

“Maybe next time.” She called over her shoulder. 

Elida waved and smiled as she gritted through her teeth. “Never gonna happen.”

She began pushing Isaac toward the exit, not giving him a second to speak.

“Quiet, Isaac. Not one word.”

The bartender shook his head and grinned as he cleared the bar.

“Hey Chaz! I’ll take my usual.” The Lorkian bartender poured his next customer’s request as he continued to watch the duo stumble out the door. He decided he liked them. 

Elida was all but stomping toward the Winnipeg. She was so embarrassed and felt foolish for going along with Isaac’s idea of learning how to flirt and “improve her game skills”. What the hell did that even mean? As they walked aboard the ship Elida flung her wet, sticky jacket toward her room. It landed just outside the door. “Of course.” She whispered. 

“El, c’mon, buddy.” Isaac was jogging to keep up with the former queen. If she wasn’t so mad this would be a hilarious situation. But he decided now was not the time for jokes. “That wasn’t your fault. That cat…woman…thingy. She was into you but her game was kind of off the charts and perhaps a little inappropriate.”

Elida’s eyes popped wide open. “A little inappropriate?”

Isaac felt the laugh bubbling up inside of him. He prayed it wouldn’t spill out.

“Isaac! She licked my jacket!”

The two scavengers stood staring at each other. Isaac looked like he was in pain and well, Elida just looked confused and maybe a little traumatized. Finally, he couldn’t hold it any longer. First, it was a little chuckle slipping past his lips. Elida threw him a warning glare which only made it worse. He let out a laugh and before long Elida was laughing as hard as she could. They laughed for several minutes. 

“Did you see her tail swish?” Elida asked in between laughs.

“One thing about it El…you had her purring.” Isaac rolled with laughter. “She was a real puss-in-boots.” 

Finally, the laughter died down and the two pilots took their seats as they fired up the Winnipeg. The friendship between the two of them was as easy as breathing. And for Elida, well, this was her first real friend outside the palace. It felt nice to have a friend. 

“Where to, El?” Isaac asked as he pulled up coordinates.

“Your choice, old timer. Just don’t expect me to do this again,” Elida said as she rolled her eyes. Who needs “game” anyway? She thought to herself. If she was meant to be with someone it would happen. 

They shared another chuckle before Isaac punched in the last of the coordinates.

“Hang on!”

And just like that they were off on their next adventure.


End file.
